Two killed in North Austin among five shot in city

Chicago Tribune reporter Adam Sege recaps the night's crime, including the slaying of two teens and a fatal car accident in the North Austin neighborhood on the West Side. (Posted, Wednesday July 3, 2013)

Chicago Tribune reporter Adam Sege recaps the night's crime, including the slaying of two teens and a fatal car accident in the North Austin neighborhood on the West Side. (Posted, Wednesday July 3, 2013)

Adam SegeTribune reporter

Two people were killed overnight in shootings less than a mile apart in the West Side's North Austin neighborhood, according to police.

About 9:40 p.m., two people on foot opened fire on a group of people in the 4800 block of West Potomac Avenue, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.

One of the bullets struck a 19-year-old woman in the head, police said. She was taken in critical condition to John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County, where she was pronounced dead at 10:14 p.m., according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Just north of crime scene tape about midnight, family friends hugged a woman who said she was the 19-year-old's mother. The woman said she was not ready to speak with reporters.

The 19-year-old's name has not been released pending notification of additional family members.

About three hours after the shooting, as police were still collecting evidence at the scene, sirens wailed as police are fire officials raced to the scene of a second shooting two blocks west of the scene and less than half a mile to the north.

There, in the 5000 block of West North Avenue, a bicyclist lay motionless in the 5000 block of West North Avenue.

The bicyclist, who had not been identified as of 5 a.m. but was believed to be in his teens, had been shot multiple times about 12:45 a.m., officials said. He died on the scene.

Within minutes of the shooting, more than two dozen uniformed and plainclothes police officers were on the scene, some searching for evidence and others talking with bystanders.

A small group of people watched from across North Avenue as an ambulance and fire truck pulled away, leaving the bicyclist lying face up next to his bicycle in the far eastbound lane.

Police later covered the body with a white sheet.

At least three other people were shot in the city since Tuesday evening.

In the Chatham neighborhood about 3:15 a.m., a 24-year-old man was shot in the neck in a drive-by shooting, police said.

The man was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was listed in good condition.

In the Lawndale neighborhood, a 21-year-old man was shot about 10:30 p.m. in the 1200 block of South Albany Avenue.

The man arrived at Mount Sinai Hospital with a gunshot wound to the hip and was listed in good condition, Gaines said.

Tuesday evening, a 20-year-old man was injured by gunfire in the Chatham neighborhood, police said.

About 6:20 p.m., the man was shot in the thigh and the leg in the 7700 block of South Champlain Avenue, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Joshua Purkiss said.